Mainely,Bob

My condolences on your loss.Our family`s thoughts are with you and yours. While people are thinking about the donor lists,I know it`s a little more work but if you will also sign up and go thru the preliminary screening(it`s very easy and near painless)to be a bone marrow donor it would help a great many others. Don`t forget the Red Cross and blood donations too.

I may have missed it but can we see a pic of the complete machine? I`m interested to see how you stage,support,quickly flip and index these large pieces of hot steel too. Maybe we can get Rory to fly over to snap pics of you while you do the entire operation.His step by step tutorials are excellent. Got time enough to clear a place for him to stand while you work? Thanks.

My wife just reminded me about the sign she bought that hangs by the door.It says; "NOBODY gets in to see the Wizard.No way, no how!" So according to my "Master",I guess I work in the land of OZ. When you come to visit,pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. ;)

On the days I used to pick the kids up at school(back when I had long hair)I used to just wait out by the car or bike but couldn`t help but notice all the "professional" parents used to congregate just inside the door and look my way alot while talking. While waiting one day one of the "professionals" strode past on his way to the BMW when his kid stopped in front of me and just stared."something on your mind son?" I asked him. He looked me in the eye(good for him) and said"I think you look like a girl!". I walked over to him crouched down to his level and looked straight back at him before asking"What was that?". He didn`t even flinch but I could see his dad shifting from foot to foot trying to coax him to the car.Once again he said "I think you look like a girl,and my Dad does too." This sent his dad`s shifting about into overdrive and he started to call his son over to him. I put my hand on the kid`s shoulder looked in the direction of his father and told him"Well boy,if you two think I look like a girl then your Mother must be REALLY,REALLY ugly.Now get to the car son." and steered him in that direction. Gotta hand it to the little guy.He sure showed more class and nerve than his Dad that day.

Now I`ve REALLY got a problem! The place I go to think,design,refine and create is kinda small and has only one seat in it and has a Phi-Zappa poster tacked on the back of the door.When I turn the light on a fan comes on too. What does that mean?

My favorite part of the job was when you get a job with no earthly idea how you were going to approach one phase of it and then it`s dropped on you anyway.While doing something else,seemingly out of the blue(usually after many nights of research) the answer appears,tools are made and you learn something. Hey Jude was always at me for the"Plan".I`d tell him the plan was "to do the job" because to tell him I had no idea would just upset him. Between the two of us we always pulled the rabbit out of the hat.Some hats were tougher than others but together we could reach pretty deep. The "auto pilot" phase was also my least favorite part but I looked at it as a way for my subconscious to be feeling around and attempting to get a good hold on the rabbit.(see previous posts for Monty Python videos involving rabbits).

That`s why we pulled and pocketed the fuses/breakers. If someone is stupid enough to see them missing and then go and get replacements and remove your lock,put them in and start the machine all you can hope for is that a good buddy may arrange for that person to need a ride in the ambulance along with you. Most of them can fit 2 people. I`ve seen it happen in the oil field.The man who crushed my friend Bill Porter got to ride to the hospital beside Billy`s body. The Haliburton operator on the intensifier that blew up on me got to ride along with me.

Maybe it`s because you always anchor it somehow but you`re not worried at all about the legs bending and climbing out under heavy hammering? I see the 3 legged stands with angled legs and wonder why there`s no lower stretchers tying the legs in.They`d make a handy place for a shelf or rack if nothing else.

Pics?Just a few would help greatly.

IME people get their own back up and there`s nothing any of the rest of us can do to stop that. Fortunately once it is up we can always take a little time and discuss things while keeping perspective.That goes a long way toward smoothing things out again. :)

Just a word of advice for those shopping for specs. Look for ones with a nice smooth bridge that wraps completely around the bridge of your nose rather than the type with 2 adjustable pads. After seeing the results of people taking a good impact on the face/glasses I found the 2 pads will bend and cause more damage than a full bridge.I have 2 good size scars from before I made the switch myself.

It may be a little late for your project but for others thinking about assembling an anvil Lincoln Electric(the welding people) used to offer very low priced books of projects with both drawings and cut lists in them.Among those projects were at least 3 anvils IIRC.I remember at least one was conventional and one ended up as an abstract bird head of some sort. All the projects were of work done by owners of Lincoln products and submitted by them so you knew the projects worked.

I wear my prescription glasses with side shields always. I wear either a pair of goggles or a face shield over the glasses for sanding or grinding at the bench grinder. For using an angle grinder or cut-off disk in a die grinder i usually wear a welding helmet with the welding lens flipped up. I also use a respirator or at least a dust mask when sanding,grinding,cutting etc. I have a pair of those ear plugs that hang around my neck by a spring band most of the time too and usually carry 2-3 sets of the foam ones in a pocket for visitors and when I can`t remember where I put my other ones(usually around my neck still). I`m hell on pencils too.I carry one in my pocket,one behind my ear,one tucked up in back of my hat and still can`t find one when I need one.Luckily there`s a lot of soapstone scattered around too.

So,if I have this straight in my head(never a safe bet) then this stake is NOT for delineating a bend line but is actually used as a brake would be to form the actual bend. If I further follow you it indexes into an already delineated line(done with a fuller in a prior step)and serves as a fulcrum/backer of sorts while using the mallet to make the bend. Two questions on this. First could I see a close up pic of the edge so I can see how sharp that edge actually is? The second question is; what percentage of the fold needs to be backed before your stake starts to lose effectiveness?In other words,for your 3X1-1/2 box I`m assuming you made your stake edge a little less than 1-1/2" to fit inside and obviously it worked for the 3" bend too but what would be the max length bend you would use this on for ,let`s say 16 gage stainless? If this can be used over a very wide range then I have a lot of wood blocks and AI pieces stacked in the bending corner I can put back in circulation. TIA for both this info and the pics and the answers to the follow on questions.

If you look at writing off the rent as a deductable business expense then I would rather be kicking out work and bringing in money than sweating copper pipes and digging trenches for free. Don`t know your landlord at all but around here if YOU put in the bath and/or office you could bet sooner or later(probably when the current lease ran out) the new lease(and rent) would reflect the fact that a bath/office was included.

I am glad to say the foreman lost his job over that and rightly so. Never heard the result of the follow on civil suit. It was unfortunate that it took something like that to drive home the safety issues that were being ignored in at least that plant owned by an international company. They had an even more high tech plant built in Florida(the plant I was working in at the time was in NY)and the maintenance mechanics used to talk about how the injury rate must be thru the roof if the same disregard for safety was going on around those high speed CNC machines. Just in the maintenance department at our plant,on our shift there were employees that had lost an arm,an eye,more than one finger and minor things like scars were too numerous to mention.All on the job injuries. From time to time you`d hear the stories of those too badly injured to return to work there or anywhere else. Made the oil field and the ship yards look like a safe place to work.

Thomas, I had thought that it might have been used to delineate where a fold would take place. What I was hoping for was some pics so I could see where it might be a faster/better method than just laying the work flat on appropriate backing and using a slightly worn chisel which is what I do now as I can see(and hopefully follow) the scribed line that way. I say slightly worn because my intention would be to help cleanly start the fold rather than cut the material at the line. I know how you like details. ;)

One of the unfortunate jobs the day crew had to do at a plant I worked at was to clean up the scene after a night shift worker lost his life. The machine was locked down but from the reports there was still one lock on the lockout device(his) prior to the accident. They were in a hurry to get the draw bench back on line(no surprise) and couldn`t find him anywhere,they ASSUMED he was outside smoking. So the night foreman used his master key to remove the lock and fire the machine up. Turns out he was still under the machine cleaning up hydraulic fluid and they found this out when pieces of him were thrown clear of the cables and chains after the first cycling of the machine. After that it became common practice among mechanics to lock out a machine and then pull and pocket the fuses/breakers. I take Frosty`s approach a little further and don`t allow people to approach me or talk to me when I`m using equipment that requires my complete attention. In return I refuse to approach someone else under the same circumstances.I place myself in their line of sight so they know I`m there and then wait for them to finish and approach me. How many times has an ER doctor or nurse heard"I was only distracted for a second" I wonder?

You have REALLY got some toys stacked up in that small shop of yours! Looks like if you ever have to scratch your back during a job you just need to take a half step back in any direction and there`s some serious iron to rub up against. I`m curious as to how much time you have to spend clearing and juggling gear between large jobs in order to make it work. You are obviously NOT claustrophobic.

Ok,now we know what it looks like and you told us the job you made it for. How about a few pics showing us how it`s used? Right now it just looks like a tall hot cut and I`m sure there are folks(like me)out here who want to see how this can save time over fumbling with setting up a leaf brake for sheet metal work. BTW-Nice execution for someone who was in a hurry and used only the PH dies there Southy.

When looking for old books or info the 3 places I start are; Lindsay Publications as Randy mentioned,Astragal Press and the folks at the Davistown Museum here in Liberty Maine. Between those 3 I have never failed to get more info or leads than I bargained for on most any trade subject. A search on the ABE books site also is a help if you know what you`re looking for.

I`ve been looking at the pics of this gate and trying to figure what I want to say. I finally figured it out.I`m speechless. I aspire to developing my eye to the level you have not only attained but seem to effortlessly incorporate into everything you undertake,and that includes the bikes. I am very much looking forward to seeing your latest 2 wheeled project in it`s new clothes. Just one suggestion bike wise as you seem to be reaching back in time on this. First a shovel,then a pan,now a knucklehead.Ever thought about saving yourself some money and time and just buying a J model motor and trans and building a board track racer? ;)

I can tell you that the worst injuries for me were not the immediate traumatic ones they were the ones that crept up by thinking I was "bulletproof". I won`t bore you here and go thru it again but I posted on a thread about arm strain if you care to read it. Long story short,bulling thru and ignoring what my body was trying to tell me led to a life changing event and a permanent disability. Hind sight is always 20/20.What I am going to suggest to you is to accept and be always aware of the fact that you we chose to work in a potentially dangerous environment,the craft requires it. Along with building your skill set and developing you hands ,eyes and mind I will urge you to also develope and learn to listen to that small voice in the back of your head that says"Watch it here!" or "That`s enough for today" or"Get those safety glasses,ear plugs,faceshield,etc. and put them on NOW!". If you need a second opinion you need only look at or count the posts of those asking for support for disability hearings,surgeries,etc on the appropriate sub forums here. Stepping down off the soap box now.

DennisG`s post got me thinking(always dangerous,you could probably see the smoke from your place). What about metal leaf?You could go with copper w/patina for the parts you`d like green,silver for the flower petals and maybe even a touch of gold on the stamen/center of the flower. Except for the sizing it`d be all metal and reasonably durable.

Another trick to give a belt some traction is to sprinkle a little diatom earth(available at pool and spa supply stores) between the belt and the pulley. We used this trick on our wood to metal clutches too. IME the belt dressing is sticky enough that it traps all kinds of stuff,up to and including shavings(both wood and metal) and glues it to the inside of a flat belt. The diatom leaves the belt dry. Another trick one of the old hands used to do if a flat belt was slipping because it was glazed was to take a wire wheel on a grinder and rough up the outside of the belt while the machine was running(to give it some "tooth") and then stop the machine,pull the pin, reverse the belt and re-pin.